A sphere's weight can be found through means other than scales. A sphere is a three-dimensional object with properties derived from the circle — such as its volume formula, 4/3 * pi * radius^3, which has both the math constant pi, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, which is approximately 3.142, and a radius, the distance from the center to the sphere's edge, based on the circle's radius. With the sphere's volume, you can find its weight by the sphere's density, a ratio of weight-to-volume, without having to weigh anything.
Spheres that are real and small enough can also be weighed on conventional scales.
Cube the sphere's radius and then multiply it by 4/3pi to calculate its volume. For this example, let the radius be 10 cm. Cubing 10 cm results in 1,000 cm^3, and multiplying 1,000 by 4/3pi results in approximately 4,188.79 cm^3.
Find the density of the sphere. In this example, let the density be 100 mg/cm^3.
Multiply the sphere's volume by its density to calculate its weight. Concluding this example, 4,188.79 cm^3 multiplied by 100 mg/cm^3 results in 418,879 mg.
Tips
References
Tips
- Spheres that are real and small enough can also be weighed on conventional scales.
About the Author
Chance E. Gartneer began writing professionally in 2008 working in conjunction with FEMA. He has the unofficial record for the most undergraduate hours at the University of Texas at Austin. When not working on his children's book masterpiece, he writes educational pieces focusing on early mathematics and ESL topics.
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